


tell me we're alright

by thedisasternerd



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Asexual CC-2224 | Cody, Asexual Character, Asexual Obi-Wan Kenobi, Fluff, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Obi-Wan Kenobi Gets a Hug, Sleepy Cuddles, Touch-Starved, cuddle piles, i'm hella touch-starved let me have this, physical comfort, this is just an excuse for hugging and nice stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24251311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedisasternerd/pseuds/thedisasternerd
Summary: Cody sighs. Obi-Wan doesn't look at him and Cody knows he probably won't ask for what he wants."Can I hug you?" Cody asks gently, shifting slightly closer - but not enough to make Obi-Wan uncomfortable, just in case he's misread the signs and his general and to be left alone.However, after a second's hesitation, Obi-Wan nods, eyes suspiciously shiny as he finally looks up."Please." He mumbles hoarsely.---Hugging, physical comfort, and general fluff.
Relationships: 212th Attack Battalion & Obi-Wan Kenobi, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Comments: 53
Kudos: 712





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HalbarryTrashcan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalbarryTrashcan/gifts).



> i just. i just want a hug.  
> This is for [Graeme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalbarryTrashcan/pseuds/HalbarryTrashcan). You deserve the best, my friend!

"I'm tired."

Cody startles at the quiet words spoken behind him, too exhausted to tamp down his flinch. No matter how many times Cody asks, his general doesn't seem to be able to stop his habit of walking silently. Sometimes, in the middle of the night cycle, watching Obi-Wan whimper and shake next to him, he wonders why the Jedi does it all the time. Skywalker certainly doesn't bother, and commander Tano isn't one for it either. He lies awake, curled around his Jedi, and wonders what happened to him. 

He wonders when being tired became the norm. He wonders when being _exhausted_ became a weekly rote. He wonders when he stopped sleeping properly and when Obi-Wan's nightmares got so bad that he now refuses to sleep by choice, only doing so when his brain starts to shut down from tiredness, he collapses from fatigue and/or gets sedated. He wonders when Obi-Wan's grief and exhaustion took root so deep that it became a part of him that he can only confess to when no-one else is listening. He wonders when they all started to want all of it to just - stop, for even a second.

"Yeah." Cody answers, turning around. "Me too."

The rest goes unsaid, and he's heavy with unanswered questions.

Obi-Wan looks awful. Before they stepped into his quarters, he'd had some semblance of normality, a fake smile on his face. Now, he's dropped all pretenses, abandoned his masks, leaving a too-pale face with too many cracks, like plastoid armour beaten to its demise. His hair is limp, almost greasy, falling into his eyes, the dark ginger contrasting with dull eyes and purple eye-bags. There's dried blood congealed around an unceremoniously self-administered bacta patch on his cheek and a long but shallow cut winding up his arm.

Cody sighs. Obi-Wan doesn't look at him and Cody knows he probably won't ask for what he wants.

"Can I hug you?" Cody asks gently, shifting slightly closer - but not enough to make Obi-Wan uncomfortable, just in case he's misread the signs and his general wants to be left alone.

However, after a second's hesitation, Obi-Wan nods, eyes suspiciously shiny as he finally looks up.

"Please." He mumbles hoarsely. 

"Come here."

Cody steps forward and opens his arms. Obi-Wan practically collapses into him, arms going around Cody's chest, too tight but not close enough. He smells of dust and blood and he's almost frail, wracked with tiny tremors, shaking in Cody's arms.

"I'm sorry." Obi-Wan whispers into his neck. "I'm so _sorry_."

His voice cracks like a crash landing.

Cody rocks them from side to side. All the words he should say don't come out, so it's silent in the cabin, save for the rustle of their clothing and Obi-Wan's hitching breaths. The _Negotiator_ hums around them, and he can dimly hear his brothers clattering up and down the corridors.

"We'll be okay." Cody manages eventually, the words heavy in his mouth. "We'll be okay."

Obi-Wan doesn't answer.

A few minutes later, the Jedi sighs and disentangles himself from Cody, stepping backward almost reluctantly. Cody misses the contact almost immediately. 

"I'll go take a shower." Obi-Wan - _yawns_ , and Cody wants to hold him and never let go.

"Good." Cody cracks a wan smile. "You smell like a bantha."

Obi-Wan wrinkles his nose and flaps a hand at him mutely, then turns and wobbles into the fresher.

Cody sighs and sits down on the edge of the bed, rubbing at his face. Although he's managed to take a shower and clean himself up, unlike Obi-Wan, he still feels - dirty, almost. His blacks are a little dusty, but he knows that that's not the reason.

He closes his eyes and doesn't cry.

* * *

Obi-Wan comes out to find Cody sitting numbly on the edge of the bed.

The cot is barely big enough for one person, much less two, but they manage it. Often, one of them ends up on top of the other - usually Obi-Wan, being the slighter one, curls up half on top of Cody at some point during the night. Sometimes, they end up spooning, but mostly they try to be as close as possible to each other. One rare occasions, they can be found lying back to back, staring blindly into the dark, not saying anything, the soundscape of war still echoing in their ears, a relentless cacophony.

When they first started this relationship, Obi-Wan had been so _touch-starved_ , to put it nicely, that Cody had promptly dragged him to one of the _vod'e_ 's weekly cuddle piles. Obi-Wan was never present during them and their initial decision that Obi-Wan just didn't like close contact was proven almost terrifyingly wrong - in reality, Obi-Wan was just scared that he would intrude. But he was _aliit_ , he was as much their family as the troops were Cody's brothers, and was quickly informed that he was more than welcome and that they had all, in fact, missed his presence sorely.

He'd ended up right in the middle of the pile, tucked up into Cody, Boil and Waxer sprawled out next to them. Gregor and Longshot ended up with them too. Their irritable medic, Painless, had grumbled irritably but without heat under his breath as he too got the middle position. 

Despite his mutters of "just five minutes, need to do reports", Obi-Wan had promptly fallen asleep, surrounded on all sides by his battalion and the safety that came with them. He'd stayed there, cocooned in warmth and love, for the rest of the night, until Cody carried him back to his quarters. Since then, he's been to ever single one of the vod'e's cuddle piles.

Now, as the war progresses, Obi-Wan is almost even _more_ desperate for any sort of close contact that he can get. Outside of privacy, Cody is by now used to and still welcoming of small touches: a brush of hands here, a nudge there, the occasional hand on his arm. He too, isn't frugal with contact, more often than not standing closer than strictly necessary, or gripping his general's upper arm when making a point. The 212th were quick to pick up on that change, and the 501st too - Rex smirked every time he witnessed such an interaction - which initially resulted in quiet teasing that slowly turned into a sort of way of showing their general their love and affection. More than one trooper, if not most of the 212th and a number of the 501st, now allowed themselves to be a little more informal with Obi-Wan, and the positive effect that that had on the Jedi was immense. 

When they're in private, Obi-Wan is a tooka at worst, snuggling up into Cody's side, elegantly draping himself over most of Cody's torso, and on one memorable occasion curling up half in Cody's lap. On some occasions, though, he avoids contact completely, and Cody respects that - he knows that Obi-Wan is sometimes almost overloaded by thoughts and emotions - Cody being too near may make them even worse.

Now, though, he seems to be soaking up all the physical comfort he can get. He must be tired enough to have given up on any semblance of his "etiquette" and "propriety"; he just falls into Cody's side, head dropping onto the younger man's shoulder. His hair is damp and cold against Cody's neck, the strands dark with moisture and scattered about his forehead, but he now smells of the cheap standard-issue shampoo rather than the battlefield. 

Cody sighs and slings an arm around Obi-Wan's shoulders, rubbing a palm up and down the Jedi's arm. Obi-Wan practically melts, huffing out a pleased breath, but his other arm, the injured one, is too tense.

"You need to bandage your arm." Cody says softly. He knows he's going to lose this particular battle, but he'll still try his best.

Obi-Wan makes an unintelligible sound that could be - probably is - a _no_.

Cody rolls his eyes and gently pushes Obi-Wan off of him, intending to get up and get some bandages. His general sways a little, eyes slitted tiredly.

"I'll get the bandages-" Before he can get up, though, he's being pulled back by a hand around his wrist - but Obi-Wan's arms are lying limp in his lap. He can't keep the fond amusement out of his voice when he realises the implications. "Fine. Be like that, you absolute tooka."

"Not a tooka." Obi-Wan mutters.

"No, you're tired."

"Stop makin' dad jokes. They're bad."

"Blame Rex. Now go to sleep, at least."

Obi-Wan frowns tiredly at him, then collapses onto his back, wrinkling his nose at Cody.

"If I sleep, you sleep." There's the invisible hand at his arm again and Cody sighs exasperatedly as it pulls him down, blacks and all, next to Obi-Wan. Another second and Obi-Wan is turning the lights off with a pleased groan.

Cody snorts ungracefully.

"At least let me change-"

Obi-Wan just grumbles a negative.

Cody sighs and decides that it's not so bad, as Obi-Wan twitches the blanket up over them and tucks himself up into Cody's front. 

He winds his arms around his Jedi's waist, and closes his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [19/05] THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE LOVE!!! I'M YELLING I LOVE Y'ALL.  
> Impromptu second part will be up...at some point soon :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have some more fluff

"General!"

Obi-Wan stops walking and turns around with a tight smile, one that Cody knows means  _ tiredness _ rather than irritation.

"Yes, commander?"

Cody does his best not to wince as Obi-Wan shifts his grip on what looks like - an entire  _ box _ of paperwork. He's got a slightly anxious expression on his face and for some reason Cody  _ knows  _ that he's going to drop it. Not out of lack of anything other than sleep and  _ rest _ , although the box is actually unfairly large and Obi-Wan has opted for hugging it to his chest rather than any other more sensible means of transportation.

"Would you like any help with that?" That wasn't what Cody wanted to talk to Obi-Wan about, but still, Obi-Wan seems to be struggling with the box.

"No, no, it’s alright." Obi-Wan hefts it up a little bit, holding it tighter. "More reports, I'm afraid."

He goes for what should be a glib smile but it comes out more like a grimace. Meanwhile, the box is slowly slipping out of his grip, making Cody tense in preparation for it falling, taking a small step closer.

"Can't they wait?" He persists, eyeing the box cautiously, trying to judge its weight. "Sir. You need a break."

Obi-Wan sighs, twitching minutely. His right arm loosens around the box - he was probably going to run a hand through his hair out of habit - and it tumbles out of his arms, hitting the floor with an ominously heavy  _ thunk _ .

They both bend down to get it at the same time, but Obi-Wan is muttering quietly in several different languages under his breath and obviously not keen to pick it up again, so Cody gets to the box first, scooping it up quickly. He tucks it under his arm, much more securely than Obi-Wan's awkward method, its edges digging into his chest and arm through his blacks; it's surprisingly heavy, but not unmanageable.

"Sir." Cody does his best not to smile at the conflicting relief and horror on his Jedi's face. "The reports can wait. Or at least let me help you take them to your quarters."

"No it's fine, Cody, really, I can’t do many things but I  _ can _ carry a box." Obi-Wan sounds so affronted that it's all Cody can do to keep a straight face and not remind him that Obi-Wan was the one who  _ dropped  _ the blasted thing.

"I need to talk to you anyway, general." His amusement - somewhat misplaced, he'll allow that - must leak into his voice because Obi-Wan glares at him, crossing his arms under his robes. "So I might as well accompany you."

"You're carrying-" Obi-Wan sighs, almost exasperated as Cody starts walking, if slowly, down the corridor. "Alright, Cody, what do you wish to  _ discuss _ ?"

Cody does his best not to find it adorable that Obi-Wan's posh Coruscant accent gets even more accentuated, almost drawling, when he's irritated. 

"Well, sir." He coughs, willing the blush off his face, rooting around for his prepared speech. Although he and Obi-Wan are easy around each other, he still gets nervous sometimes, especially about the sort of matter that he wants to discuss.

Obi-Wan has, meanwhile, come to some realisation, which means he slows down and Cody has to do the same, the box now uncomfortable against his side.

"Sorry for interrupting, Cody, but-" He pauses, something troubled brewing behind his eyes. "It's the 212th's, ah,  _ cuddle night? _ I was under the impression that you attend them."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Cody watches Obi-Wan's frown deepen.

"Why, is there something wrong?"

"You could say that." They start walking again. "We - me and the  _ vod'e _ , that is - were wondering if you could. Join us? I -  _ we _ \- miss you."

Obi-Wan looks sheepish, but - hopeful?

"I wouldn't want to intrude-"

Cody swears internally. This is a conversation he’s had many times with Obi-Wan and probably will repeat many times in the future.

"You wouldn't be intruding." Cody corrects him swiftly, willing the exasperation out of his voice. For someone so smart, his Jedi can be a karking  _ di’kut _ sometimes. "At all. You're our general, you're  _ aliit _ . The shinies call you  _ ori’vod,  _ or  _ ba’vodu  _ as do most of the  _ vod’e _ .  _ Aliit ori'shya tal'din, ner’jetii _ ."

Obi-Wan still looks uncertain. 

"Really, Cody, you don't have to." He rubs at his beard, not looking at Cody and Cody  _ knows  _ that he wants to join them. "Besides, I have a rather  _ interesting _ amount of reports and paperwork to file."

They've reached Obi-Wan's quarters by now, so Obi-Wan turns away to type in his code. The door slides open and Cody steps inside, relieved to be able to put the box down - it was beginning to become uncomfortable - and looks around, at the bed that hasn't been slept in, the papers and flimsies scattered on the desk, interspersed with various mugs, the shiny-clean kitchenette, and comes to a decisive conclusion that his Jedi needs a break. Obi-Wan, however, has other ideas - he makes an aborted move to get to the box, but Cody puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Those can wait." He rubs small circles into the muscles of his Jedi's shoulder, watching several complicated emotions flicker across Obi-Wan's face. "Come on, Obi-Wan, at least a few minutes. The men - troopers," he hastily corrects himself, remembering Tooka's awkward mumbling, ducking their head shyly; Jenga's quiet plea to be recognised for who she was, and so many more  _ vod'e _ who were just as brilliant and unique and valid, "miss you. It's, uh, not the same without you.  _ Ori’haat _ ."

Obi-Wan takes one last look at the paperwork and sighs heavily.

"Alright then." He smiles, a small but hopeful thing, resigned but quietly pleased. "Lead the way, commander."

Cody grins at him, not hiding his pleasure at the admission. Obi-Wan's smile turns bashful and Cody can't resist pressing an awkward kiss to his temple before curling his fingers around Obi-Wan's wrist and gently tugging him out of the room.

"Just five minutes, though." Obi-Wan says, but there's no real conviction in his voice. "I really do need to finish the paperwork."

They make their way through the  _ Negotiator's _ corridors over to the rec hall, where Cody knows all of the 212th aren't on shift are. 

He lets go of Obi-Wan's wrist just before they step inside and lets him go through first with a gentle nudge.

Inside, most of the troopers are already huddled together. Some are moving around and settling down, while others are just stretching out over their brothers. It's warm, and the various furniture has been pushed back to the walls, allowing for everyone to sit on the floor on the various blankets and cushions that have been brought in. Most of the troopers are in their blacks, with odd bits of armour scattered around the edge of the room, mostly buckets and blasters, and a few are in grey uniform - but Threk is in a medical gown,  _ again _ , a bacta patch stuck onto his arm, which makes him stand out in the room even more. He's instantly recognisable by his neon-pink hair and the medical gown that he wears semi-permanently due to his sheer  _ clumsiness.  _

It's Waxer, though, who is the first to notice them walk in.

"Hey, general!" He grins cheerfully, attempting to wave at them, but he's wedged between Painless and Boil, so he hasn’t got much in terms of range of movement. Threk is lying over their legs, telling some wild tale that involves expansive hand gestures. "And commander!"

Boil is next, twisting around as much as he can with Gregor half-asleep on his shoulder, and quirks a smile.

"Sirs." He nods respectfully. "We have room for two here."

He gestures with his head at the space behind him, right in the middle of what isn't yet a pile but soon will be. 

Cody turns to Obi-Wan, who is sending mixed signals - on one hand, he's tense, but there's an expression of what could be  _ longing _ on his face. Cody clocked a long time ago that Obi-Wan has complexes that are extremely contradictory but all self-denying, and one of them is his need for physical contact, which wars constantly with his need to appear distant and unattached. On top of that, neither he nor Obi-Wan are ones for, well,  _ intimacy _ \- the heated kind, that is. Obi-Wan had been so embarrassed about admitting it that Cody had actually started panicking, but they'd worked it out quickly and never  _ really _ needed to discuss it again.

However, with that came the conflicting issue of Obi-Wan wanting physical contact and affection, but not wanting to go further than that - apparently he'd encountered issues with explaining that to certain  _ individuals _ before, which only made his view on the whole matter even more confused. But Cody understands, and the men do too - he'd ended up giving a few awareness talks, knowing that he and Obi-Wan weren’t the only ones who were asexual, but they'd been well received.

"Come on then." He gives Obi-Wan another nudge. 

The general looks at the troopers for confirmation, and he gets a lazy thumbs-up from Painless, several cheers of  _ general! _ , and numerous bright grins.

"Come on, sirs!" Longshot calls encouragingly. "We were waiting."

He gets a general nod of agreement from the room.

"You might want to take your cloak off, Obi-Wan." Cody says, grinning. "It can get hot. Your boots, too."

Obi-Wan grumbles under his breath but complies, shucking his cloak off with his usual drama and draping it over the arm of one of the chairs, near the door, next to what looks like Boil's helmet. He bends down to slip off his boots and is left standing awkwardly in only his tunic and leggings, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

He looks vulnerable, like that. Although he's by no means  _ small _ , being of a fairly average height, he's slight, and his robes are starting to get too big on him, only exacerbating the way he seems almost -  _ exposed _ , without his cloak. He's got his hands curled protectively around his elbows, a movement that's often disguised as contemplative under his cloak, rather than the nervous tic it actually is.

"If you insist." Obi-Wan's got that awkward smile on his face again as he starts picking his way through the troopers on silent feet, Cody close behind him. 

"We do insist!" That's Threk, grinning upside down at them as they settle down in the free space. It's already warm, and the  _ vod'e _ around them shift closer. 

"Why thank you, Threk." There's a genuine grin on his Jedi's face now, and Cody relaxes, settling down next to Boil. 

Obi-Wan sits stiffly at first, unsure of what to do, but when Cody slings an arm around his shoulder he gets the hint and curls up into Cody's side, like a tooka. Cody in turn leans on Boil, prodding Threk to make him move his legs a little so that they can get more comfortable. The pink-haired shiny obliges, moving himself up fully to drape himself over Painless' legs, making the medic squawk indignantly. Other than that, though, Painless doesn't really protest, just makes an awkward face over Threk's hair at Cody. Cody smirks at him and looks away, not being able to take the combination of neon-green and bright-pink that is Painless’ and Threk’s respective choices of hair colours.

"Five minutes." Obi-Wan says from under Cody's arm. He already sounds relaxed. "Then reports."

Painless and Boil raise disbelieving eyebrows and the two of them share a conspiratorial smirk with Cody before he looks back down at his general.

"You could just bring the reports here, next time." Boil accidentally elbows Cody in the ribs. "Sorry sir."

"Drop the titles." Cody replies, not taking his eyes off of Obi-Wan, whose eyes are drifting shut, despite his best efforts to keep them open. "Just Cody."

Boil grunts an affirmative and shifts again, getting himself comfortable. Waxer detaches his top half from Painless and collapses onto his best friend. The medic promptly falls on top of them, unbalanced, what with Threk half in his lap.

"Threk'ika." Cody hears Painless hiss. "You're too light for the amount of space you take up."

"Sorry."

"Have you been eating the amount I told you to?"

"Elek,  _ ori'vod _ ."

Painless hums in discontent and Cody makes a mental note to talk to the two of them about it. 

Obi-Wan, meanwhile, has started to properly fall asleep by the looks of it. He's got Jenga and Longshot next to him, and it's becoming quite warm now, that sort of pleasant temperature that makes you drowsy. 

Cody smiles, placing a gentle hand on his Jedi's head, tangling his fingers in soft ginger hair, making Boil snicker and form a heart shape with his hands. Cody kicks him without much force and goes back to rubbing Obi-Wan's scalp, which earns him a small, happy noise. 

"Five minutes." Obi-Wan mumbles sleepily, pushing his head up into Cody's hands like a loth-cat. "Five."

"Of course, cyare." 

The whole of the 212 knows, so he sees no point in hiding their relationship anymore. He tightens his arm around Obi-Wan and presses a kiss to the top of his head, then rests his cheek there, soft strands tickling his jaw.

They stay like that for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ori'vod - older sibling  
> ba'vodu - uncle  
> aliit - family (clan)  
> Aliit ori'shya tal'din, ner’jetii. - family is more than blood (saying), my Jedi  
> Ori'haat - [roughly] no kidding, it's the truth, honestly  
> di'kut - idiot  
> cyare - sweetheart  
> elek - yes

**Author's Note:**

> please leave kudos and comments, they really make my day. I love y'all so much! Stay safe, guys, and we'll make it through to the other side.  
> Come drop by and chat/yell with me [here](https://thedisasternerd.tumblr.com/)


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